


Deep Below

by QwillReign



Series: Wings and Flyte [5]
Category: Septimus Heap - Angie Sage
Genre: Blood and Injury, Dungeon Number One, Gen, Hopeful Ending, How Marcia lost her Wing, Marcia Alone, Sad, Wings AU, so very sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:13:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27280987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QwillReign/pseuds/QwillReign
Summary: What really happened to Marcia below the castle? Could she even survive it?
Series: Wings and Flyte [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1991479
Comments: 10
Kudos: 9





	1. The Dungeon

Marcia had never felt so alone. Deep in Dungeon Number One, in the bowels of her beloved Castle, she was weak, and without the Akuh amulet, Marcia didn’t have enough strength to do any Magyk of use. As she drifted in and out of consciousness, she could hear were the screams surrounding her, pulling her down into oblivion.

Once, she felt a throbbing pain in her wing.

Twice, she saw someone, a dark figure. Marcia knew she should have recognized them, but before she could get a good look, the lights went out.

Three times, she woke to Alther hovering by her side, but try as she might, Marcia couldn’t muster the strength to understand him.

The last time she woke, the pain in her wing was gone. That was good, she thought, as she drifted away once more, into a blissful rest.


	2. The Wing

Marcia woke, hours, days, perhaps even months after she had first entered Dungeon Number One. She jolted up, gasping, out of a nightmare- she was alone, it was dark, her wing was gone.

Quickly, Marcia took stock of her surroundings. She was alone, and it was dark, but that could very well be because she was back in her rooms in the Wizard tower, couldn’t it? Then the smell hit. Damp, rotting decay surrounded her. It had not been a dream. 

She quickly wrapped her wings around her, suddenly very aware of the cold, damp dungeon. When she felt a pull on her wings, she stopped. Marcia couldn’t breathe. Turning, she saw the very subject of her nightmares. 

Where her left wing should have been, was a stump of bone and a few feathers, nothing remaining but the indication that someday, there had been something there. 

Twisting, Marcia saw her right wing, still present -thank Magyk- but it was bound by the nets they used on those poor young army boys, like the one she had found in the snowbank. The feathers were bent, and their once vibrant purple, with the near constant blue shimmer of magic, was lank and dull.


	3. No Escape

Marcia slowly took stock of her surroundings. She was certain that she was in Dungeon Number One, Alther had taken her down once, and nothing else in the castle had quite the same smell and feel. It was dark, but not so dark that Marcia couldn't see. There were prominent bloodstains nearly everywhere she could see, and, with a start, Marcia realized that some of that blood was from her. That was a problem. 

Marcia had nothing to bandage herself with, and while many of her wounds seemed to be clotting on their own, there was no way she was getting out of this without an infection.  
Perhaps Alther would come. He could save her. Maybe it was all a mistake, maybe she would be rescued, and go back to the Wizard Tower, and she could have her amulet back, and all would be well. 

But no. Alther was a ghost, he wouldn't be able to help her at all. DomDaniel had put her down here, she remembered now. Marcia started to panic, her breath quickened, her heart was racing. She glanced around the room, desperately, desperately searching for a way out. Her eyes landed on something big, something covered in blood. 

Perhaps it was something she could use to stand on, to get closer to the entrance, or to throw at whoever came in next to check on her. They had to check on her at some point, yes? They wouldn't just let her die, would they? Marcia was moderately certain that they wanted her to suffer, or she would already be dead. 

She picked up the object. It was heavy, but had a very familiar feeling. It reminded her of Queen Cerys’s limp wing when Marcia had grabbed the baby princess and run. She looked down, wiped away the blood, and saw a feather.

It was hers.

Her wing, on the floor of Dungeon Number One, covered in blood. 

Her blood. 

Marcia’s heart stopped. There was no way she was getting out of this, period. She would die in this cell, with one bound wing, and the other on the ground beside her, covered in blood.

Marcia fell back to the wall, gasped in pain, and sobbed.


	4. Marcia's Plan

“Marcia! Marcia!” 

A voice was hovering somewhere above her, floating just out of reach. Marcia groaned and opened her eyes. 

“Marcia! Oh, thank Magyk! Can you hear me?”

Floating above Marcia was Alther, a worried, relieved look on his face. She wondered why he was here, it wasn't as if there was anything to do but to let her waste away, which didn't seem very pleasant to watch. “Go away Alther, there is absolutely nothing you can do. Leave me to my fate, and I'll see you in a year and a day.” It would be much better if he were to leave her alone. 

“No Marcia, I will not leave you alone. This place is sucking out your will to live, and I will NOT let you die here. I need you to listen to me, Marcia. I overheard the Supreme Custodian discussing you with his guards. They are going to come for you soon, Marcia, and take you out of this place.”

Marcia sat up. She was suddenly filled with hope. She knew there was no way she would be able to escape Dungeon Number One, but perhaps she could slip the guards, and run. She could go back to Zelda’s cottage, even though it was cramped and smelled of cabbage, and she could recover. She could teach the young army boy, 412, and protect Princess Jenna, and once she was ready, she would take back the castle. Somehow.

“I will stay with you, Marcia, until I am returned. It has been over a month that you have been down here, and you need the company. When they come, I will go with you until I cannot, and then I shall go to the Heaps, and let them know what happens. If you are not heavily guarded, and you escape, I can lead you to a safe place that the Guards no not of, and you can recoup there.” Alther talked on and on and on, and Marcia was glad for the company, but she did not listen to his account of the last month, nor to his endless encouragement. No, Marcia was planning. 

She had to escape. There was no telling what would happen to her after she left the Dungeon, they could outright kill her, or perhaps DomDaniel would come, and then they would all be in danger. No, she thought, she must escape the guards who would come for her. It was the only way. She would get out into the sun, and she would wrench her arms free, and light their clothes on fire, or some such distractor, and run. Alther would lead her away, he said so. She could do this. She could escape. She would save the Castle. 

Marcia heard footsteps. Alther’s voice stopped it’s rambling. She tensed, and through the door of Dungeon Number One, came something far worse than one or two guards. 

It was DomDaniel.


	5. Leaving Dungeon Number One

DomDaniel’s pitch black wings shimmered with Magyk as he Froze Marcia in place.  
“Well well well… What do we have here? Miss Marcia Overstrand, quiet at last. How… Unusual,” he drawled. 

She could feel the Darke Magyk surrounding her, keeping her immobile, but without her amulet, and her belt, and after a month in the Dungeon, she was powerless against it. Still, Marcia stared back at the Necromancer with hard, challenging eyes, as if daring him to come nearer. 

“Guards, restrain her.” As they advanced, Marcia steeled herself. She could not escape, not now, but she could be defiant. Marcia refused to be broken by him, and as the Custodian Guards bound her wrists with rope, and the Freeze was released, Marcia Overstrand, Extraordinary Wizard, straightens her back, pulled back her shoulders, and, with an expression of disgust, contempt, and (she hoped) pity, fixed on DomDaniel, allowed herself to be lead out of Dungeon Number One, and into the fresh air. 

Marcia went to great pains to show no other emotions, even as she reveled in the clean smells, the cool air, and the sight of the sun. She was led through the streets, as if DomDaniel had wanted to parade their broken leader to the people of the Castle. Marcia refused to comply with that image.

With her head held high, in silent pain from a body that had become unaccustomed to stimuli and exercise, she did her best to present a strong front, to show her people that not all hope was lost yet. It couldn’t be. She had to escape and she must take back her home. The sight of the Wizard Tower bathed in Darkness was more than enough to reaffirm that belief. 

There were no people in the streets. The scared faces looking out from behind curtains in the homes and shops lining Wizard way seemed more relieved than disheartened. Marcia assumed, no, she hoped, that it was because as she met each of their eyes in turn, she was able to communicate that she would still fight. If nothing else, the Castle inhabitants could hold out as long as they had hope. She had seen them do it before, and they could do it again. Alther floated by her side, and Marcia was glad, because while the people took their strength from the sight of her, Marcia had always been comforted and reassured by Alther’s steady presence, the ever-continuing fountain of his words, and the sight of his strong, large, purple wings, ready to fly to her rescue, even as a ghost.

At last, the small party, accompanied now by several of the newer ExtraOrdinary Ghosts encouraging Marcia, and offering increasingly ridiculous suggestions, reached the Palace landing stage, where a large, ominous boat was waiting to depart.

“The Vengeance. A beauty, isn't she? Full of wonderful Darkness, and look! There below! That porthole is your cell! Simply marvelous.” DomDaniel gestured to a dark, grimy porthole just above the waterline. 

Marcia’s guards shoved her roughly forward, and she proudly boarded the ship, very pointedly walking in front of the Darke Wizard. SHe did not look back, and as she left behind the ghosts of the Extraordinaries, and her beloved Castle. 

As she was pushed into a bare wooden room, Marcia grinned. Alone, she could loosen her bonds, and since she had the light from the porthole, and was out of Dungeon Number One, restore her Magyk.

From somewhere above her, Marcia heard a deckhand yell “All aboard for Deppen Ditch!”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! LMK your thoughts, suggestions, etc in the comments down below! A sequel might be possible, but only if Y'all want it!


End file.
